A Murder of Crows

About

Crows live everywhere in the world except Antarctica and are a part of myths and legends in many cultures. Their reputation in the stories varies from comical to frightening, godlike or wise, bringers of light and bringers of death, though a “murder” of crows refers to a flock of crows, and not to anything murderous, at all. They may be all these things, but what we are learning is that they are especially smart.

New research has shown that they are among the most intelligent animals on the planet. They use tools as only elephants and chimpanzees do, and recognize 250 distinct calls. One particular talent they have been discovered to possess is the ability to recognize individual human faces and pick them out of a crowd up to two years later – a trick that might make even Hitchcock shiver with fright.

They thrive wherever people live and have used their great intelligence to adapt again and again to a constantly changing world. Some memorize garbage truck routes, and follow the feast from day to day. Others drop nuts in the road and wait for passing cars to crack them open. And some build their nests from items we throw away – like wire clothes hangers.

These are social birds that mate for life and raise their young for up to five years. And they learn from each other’s misfortunes. When one is killed in a farmer’s field, it’s not uncommon for them to change entire migratory patterns so that no crows fly over that field for as long as two years.

These birds might have a scary reputation, but what may prove to be the scariest thing about them is how much they know about us, and how little we know about them!

SPECIAL THANKS FOR ALL THEIR HELP AND SUPPORT TO JOHN MARZLUFF & HEATHER CORNELL, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR JOSEPH MURNAGHAN, OPTIX DIGITAL PICTURES

ONLINE EDITOR DAVID HEDLEY, OPTIX DIGITAL PICTURES

VISUAL EFFECTS MARK DRIVER DAVID HEDLEY

STORY EDITOR ANNE PICK

SUPERVISING SOUND EDITOR DAVID ROSE

DIALOGUE EDITOR JEAN BOT

FOLEY ARTISTS ANDY MALCOLM GORO KOYAMA

FOLEY RECORDING MIXER DON WHITE

RE-RECORDING MIXER LOU SOLAKOFSKI, TATTERSALL SOUND AND PICTURE

PUBLICITY JILL SPITZ

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING SCIENTISTS FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROJECT: DAVID CRAIG, WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY KEVIN MCGOWAN, CORNELL LABORATORY OF ORNITHOLOGY LOUIS LEFEBVRE, MCGILL UNIVERSITY RUSSELL GRAY, UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND ALEX TAYLOR, UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND GAVIN HUNT, UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND ANNE BARRETT CLARK, BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY MICHIO MATSUDA, THE WILD BIRD SOCIETY OF JAPAN HIROYOSHI HIGUCHI, UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO YOSHIHIDE SHIBATA, TOKYO THOMAS BUGNYAR, UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA CLAUDIA WASCHER, KONRAD LORENZ INSTITUTE ANNA BRAUN, KONRAD LORENZ INSTITUTE ERICH JARVIS, DUKE UNIVERSITY TOBY BRADSHAW, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON and THE KYUSHU ELECTRIC COMPANY